Pope Francis has arrived on the French island of Corsica, where he will give two speeches in the capital Ajaccio and preside over a mass at the Casone open-air theatre, before meeting with President Emmanuel Macron.
The 87-year-old Argentine pontiff will be driven in his Popemobile through Ajaccio, where thousands of faithful are expected to throng the streets, with 2,000 extra security personnel on hand to manage the crowds.
Pope Francis's one-day trip to Corsica will be the first papal visit to the island, where 90 percent of the population of 350,000 is Catholic, according to the local Church, and where religious traditions remain deeply rooted.
The visit to was championed by the popular and media-friendly Bishop of Ajaccio, Francois-Xavier Bustillo, who was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in September 2023.
"Corsica has been preparing to welcome him for a long time", Bustillo told French news agency AFP earlier this week. "The diocese is poor, the Corsican region is not rich" but thanks to the generosity of businesses and the faithful "we will pull off a welcome worthy of the pope", he said.
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Renovations
The facade of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta of Ajaccio has been repainted for the occasion, and an access ramp is being built to allow Pope Francis, who uses a wheelchair, to enter through the main door.
New pews have just been delivered and yellow and white papal flags have been placed behind the altar.
Near the cathedral, a colourful fresco by Ajaccio artists depicts Pope Francis against a backdrop of stained glass windows and a map of Corsica.
The pope is making the visit for a Catholic conference on "popular religiosity in the Mediterranean". It will be attended by bishops from the nearby Italian islands of Sicily and Sardinia, as well as from Spain and France.
Francis has repeatedly emphasised the value of practising devotion through local, time-honoured traditions such as colourful processions, pilgrimages, songs, dance and feast days.
"Popular piety that knows how to pray creatively, that knows how to sing creatively... is the 'immune system' of the Church", and prevents faith from becoming a dry, intellectual exercise, the Pope said in 2018.
Notre-Dame reopening
Francis, who will celebrate his 88th birthday on 17 December, has been to France twice since becoming head of the worldwide Catholic Church in 2013, visiting Strasbourg and Marseille.
His visit to Corsica comes one week after the grand reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, which he chose not to attend in person.
Instead, he sent a message which was read out during the ceremony. In it, he referred to his opposition to a proposition from the French Ministry of Culture to charge an entry fee for tourists.
The "immense" numbers set to visit the freshly refurbished house of worship should be welcomed "generously and free of charge", he said.
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But he is yet to make an official state visit to France, or to fellow populous European nations such as Spain, the United Kingdom and Germany. The Argentine pontiff prefers visiting smaller or less established Catholic communities, from Malta to Mongolia.
In the Mediterranean, he has favoured islands – Sicily and Greece's Lesbos – for trips focusing on the priorities of his pontificate, such as the treatment of migrants, the effects of global warming, or dialogue between religions.
Corsica will be the 47th overseas visit for Pope Francis and his third this year, after a long tour of the Asia-Pacific region in early September and a trip to Belgium and Luxembourg the same month.
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(with AFP)
